3 Times You Should Take Antibiotics (& When You Absolutely Should Not)

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my newsletter, PGPB Weekly for updates, FREE printables and weekly special offers! You can also find all our most recent posts on Facebook, Twitter, and sneak peeks of our activities and behind the scenes looks at our family life on Instagram.
Please note, this post may contain affiliate links or product reviews for which we may receive compensation. For more details, please see our Terms & Conditions and Sponsors pages. Thanks for visiting!

Welcome Back! If you enjoy our posts, you can always find all our most recent on Facebook, Twitter, and sneak peeks of our activities and behind the scenes looks at our family life on Instagram.
Please note, this post may contain affiliate links or product reviews for which we may receive compensation. For more details, please see our Terms & Conditions and Sponsors pages. Thanks for visiting!

This is a post prepared under a contract funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and written on behalf of the Mom It Forward Influencer Network for use in CDC’s Be Antibiotics Aware educational effort. Opinions on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CDC.

This cold and flu season was brutal. And my family was not immune. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I actually went to the doctor and ended up on antibiotics, not once, but twice for strep throat. I hadn’t had strep throat since I was a child, and it reminded me of all my trips to the pediatrician to get antibiotics—”the pink stuff,” as I called it. This is an experience my own kids have far less often than I did. I started to investigate why—is it because my children get sick less? Or are the rules for when you get antibiotics changing? As it turns out, antibiotics are still very widely prescribed. Each year, enough antibiotic prescriptions are written in doctors’ offices to give five out of every six people one prescription.

When You Should Take Antibiotics… & When You Shouldn’t

CDC wants you to be aware about antibiotics, their use, and the risk of side effects. As antibiotic use has increased, about 30 percent of antibiotics—or 47 million prescriptions—are prescribed unnecessarily in doctors’ offices and emergency departments in the United States. Moreover, 50 percent of all antibiotics are prescribed incorrectly (the wrong antibiotic, at the wrong dose, for the wrong length of time, or at the wrong time).

Be an informed patient—for your health, as well as your children’s. Learn more about when you should take antibiotics, when they aren’t needed, and what major risks are associated with antibiotic use.

Watch this video to learn more about when it is effective to take antibiotics.

Some illnesses are not caused by bacteria. When you or your child doesn’t feel well, it can be tempting to go to the doctor and ask for antibiotics, assuming they’re a quick fix to feel better, but antibiotics do not work on viruseslike:

The common cold or a runny nose

Flu

Bronchitis

Sore throat

Respiratory viruses usually go away in a week or two without treatment. Ask your healthcare professional about the best way to feel better while your body fights off the virus.

The Major Risks of Taking Antibiotics

Why does taking antibiotics unnecessarily or inappropriately matter? Any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and lead to antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance does not mean the body is becoming resistant to antibiotics; it means that bacteria develop the ability to defeat the antibiotics designed to kill them. When bacteria become resistant, antibiotics can’t kill them and the bacteria multiply. Some resistant bacteria can be harder to treat and can spread to other people.

If you need antibiotics, take them exactly as prescribed. Be sure to talk with your doctor if you have any questions about your antibiotics, or if you develop any side effects, especially diarrhea, since that could be a C. difficile (C. diff) infection.

How frequently have your kids been prescribed antibiotics? Do you find you or your kids are prescribed antibiotics less often now than when you were prescribed them as a child? For more health tips for your family, be sure to follow my Health and Safety for Kids board on Pinterest.

Save this for later. PIN IT!

Antibiotics save lives. They are critical for treating people with serious infections, such as pneumonia or sepsis, the body’s extreme response to an infection. Improving the way we take antibiotics helps keep us healthy now, helps fight antibiotic resistance, and ensures that life-saving antibiotics will be available for future generations.